Video-conferencing allows virtual participants, who are at a location that is remote from a meeting room, to view real-time video images of a meeting. However, these virtual participants usually do not have control over the real-time video images they receive. For example, virtual participants generally cannot direct the video-camera at the remote location to aim along a particular line-of-sight to place particular objects or people within the camera's field-of-view.
While providing the video-camera with a wider field-of-view may provide a way to capture more of the meeting room within a particular frame, there is always a wider view than will be supported by a video-camera. As such, it is likely that at least some elements of the meeting room will not be constantly visible in a real-time video image. Further, wide-angle lenses may introduce image distortion that, unless corrected by software that requires additional computational resources, can make certain elements within real-time video images unclear.
In an alternative solution, video-cameras may be automatically aimed upon detecting motion, or the sound of a voice or object within a meeting room. These solutions typically require a controller to aim a video-camera along selected lines-of-sight. However, this type of controller is usually situated at the same location as the video-camera and the motion/sound source (e.g., within or adjacent to the meeting room) and is generally not accessible to virtual participants.